Okay, I'm just mucking around right now.But I've been seeing Chinese made shocks for the K75/K100 at what seems almost reasonable prices. 
 
305mm
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185689350857?hash=item2b3bf2a2c9:g:05MAAOSwzYljkUm-&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA0GBtmT00WfMbwW8jcjx0Mt8I5G6nE81CQq95DcBPuOiXpxfFfMVMkShke0WTAkIhK6%2FlBgWaphwGixOhCdApi1Jv%2BkWn831XuUAnCRQjY8gpziEoQslWn2lCOpCm38vigD4lfxIhuN%2BR093n7oXe2hBwpAvWX%2FNNarFwEKEmT99C3yB7Kk%2F9Z5eWiOL6Ya7LExVcs5mhGTLlxoDkL5piHyarKammZOBIhJE%2F49MVvsvtVOSODpQ5AATDXLUeMw%2BJDHCHclvkHQy8jM56atN8i6c%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4qxmcjuYg
and
310mm
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185652051155?fits=Model%3AK75%7CMake%3ABMW&hash=item2b39b97cd3:g:IqUAAOSwC31jbLNQ&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8Pq%2BnMtiOhAPzP1F%2FurhY7QxxNfGLOR1WOyYsSFCYc1a5FMWLpG2ExUJAmeoJGuuM2YXpoMi2p2ypPxqTeJ3Ew%2FOoviUpTzHke2UuSUyHnYh38S9rX9szQ2qG7YfUGxayH4bprOCZ0qrIqAscRsDEu77DM%2FhKuyLrHl8S1ADdsyPOmVVyI2I876Z9OcovBmxNJJulXWZmpPGIZr%2BSEN%2F039LsBsQH5EHQXwjLs17uQBZ0YzDgGXmJ8GJgivIvKk%2BQzlJwC5Vh6sDwP8dg7CX6kl8zjzpF%2BDnHNLYdD8sC0dnh%2FyvIBmpVGBjyHG9Y6%2FdAQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4qxmcjuYg

Okay, bad examples. but still a question.
Any one tried them?  What's the quality, fit, finish. Any comment positive/negative? Any difference between manufacturers/suppliers? I'm just being curious as I will probably looking in the next few months. And I'm ordinarily skeptical of Chinese products having been burned a few times.

J.

Go on.  Just buy them.  What could possibly go wrong? 

You've been burnt before, so it won't hurt as much.

I wouldn't. I just - wouldn't. I have no trust in any Chinese item that could possibly affect my safety, unless it's been brought into the UK and tested to UK standards. Then I don't care if it says 'Made In China'.

Dai wrote:I wouldn't. I just - wouldn't. I have no trust in any Chinese item that could possibly affect my safety, unless it's been brought into the UK and tested to UK standards. Then I don't care if it says 'Made In China'.

 
In my wanderings I found the following youtube video that seems to be in the same vein as your responses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OCJDSjvzpQ

That was... almost (but not quite) unbelievable

That video on the Chinese bike was spot on to what we all should expect. What shocked me is the test rides he took were the routes I would use in Austin, Texas when test riding MV Augusta F4s after assembly. The mechanics refused to ride them due to the riding posture.

That Chinese bike wasn't a sport bike, this is a sport bike!  

I happily buy stuff from china - sometimes you get decent quality at a bargain price, sometimes the quality reflects the price. I don't get why anyone would make an issue (or a video) mocking a cheaply priced bike for being....very cheaply made. What is that - scientific discovery of the year?
If you buy a new bike for secondhand money, and only have to free off a binding brake (not with 'WD40 or grease' though!) adjust the steering head bearings (after 2 days of puzzling it out - really?), and maybe replace the tyres, then what's so bad? You'd be happy enough if that's all you had to do to a secondhand Jap or Euro. With chinese stuff, very generally, you either get what you pay for, or you get more. What's to complain about?
Yep the bike looked pretty rubbish, if it's anything like the throwaway, unrepairable chinese crap bikes that I see over here. But I wouldn't be snobby about it, we used to laugh about Japanese bikes remember?

Safety critical parts, or bike kit? Nah.

Edit: Just re-read this post. I sound very harsh. I think things like this just disappoint me because, instead of mocking it for laughs, this 'expert' should instead be showing whether this cheap bike can be made into safe, affordable transport for someone without big-guy pockets and, if so, what to check for, adjust/replace/keep an eye on and so on. Y'know, real unselfish help stuff from a pro expert who cares about bikers out there.

Suzi Q wrote:I happily buy stuff from china - sometimes you get decent quality at a bargain price, sometimes the quality reflects the price. I don't get why anyone would make an issue (or a video) mocking a cheaply priced bike for being....very cheaply made. What is that - scientific discovery of the year?
If you buy a new bike for secondhand money, and only have to free off a binding brake (not with 'WD40 or grease' though!) adjust the steering head bearings (after 2 days of puzzling it out - really?), and maybe replace the tyres, then what's so bad? You'd be happy enough if that's all you had to do to a secondhand Jap or Euro. With chinese stuff, very generally, you either get what you pay for, or you get more. What's to complain about?
Yep the bike looked pretty rubbish, if it's anything like the throwaway, unrepairable chinese crap bikes that I see over here. But I wouldn't be snobby about it, we used to laugh about Japanese bikes remember?

Safety critical parts, or bike kit? Nah.

Edit: Just re-read this post. I sound very harsh. I think things like this just disappoint me because, instead of mocking it for laughs, this 'expert' should instead be showing whether this cheap bike can be made into safe, affordable transport for someone without big-guy pockets and, if so, what to check for, adjust/replace/keep an eye on and so on. Y'know, real unselfish help stuff from a pro expert who cares about bikers out there.

I am a little unsure of this. I posted the link primarily because it reflected the same views as others have voiced here. The guy's review of the super cheap Chinese bike was obviously intended as a put down from the beginning, even before he opened the package. I wonder if they actually made him the offer of the bike in return for a positive review. Of if he saw the whole thing as a way to get youtube credits for himself. Three thousand $ gains you what in terms of youtube likes. And then you can sell the bike after. Of if the fairing and parts are such close knock offs of a Ninja fairing etc, why not sell them as such? Machine might be worth more as parts than as a whole.

Another thought struck me - two thoughts in one post who would have imagined - but one of the problems the motorcycling world is having currently is that bikes are SOOOoo! expensive. So much so that many younger would be riders are choosing skate boards, electric scooters and the like whereas in my youth they would have gone for m/c's. I'm concerned because my club's membership is heavily tilted toward older riders. And while I'm sensitive to the safety issues he raised isn't that something that is checked by the dealership when they take first delivery of a bike and check it out? Well the Chinese knock off may have had delivery issues I'm sure it beats my first motorcycle, a Harley Hummer missing a front brake. Still I only paid $50. for that bike back in 1963.

I think we're on the same page. Cheap chinese bikes make me think of younger, novice riders who might choose them...who they're probably aimed at after all. These are the riders who need the safety education. It is after all, a generation of kids who are used to 'upgrading' - phones, video games & consoles, RC cars, etc. So what's so bad about 'upgrading' your chinese entry-level bike into something with working brakes and similar exotica? There's aspiration for you!
I think I'd still rather see a novice rider on a properly PDI'd chinese bike from a responsible (and liable!) dealer, than a dodgy Jap capable of twice the speed. 'Course, a properly-serviced Jap would be a better bet every time.

PS. How long before you realised it didn't have a front brake? I had a BSA Bantam that didn't have a front brake too. Well it did, but it didn't, if you know what I mean  .

Chris and JJ: I agree with you both about the YouTube reviewer. The brake, chain and steering head bearing problems should have been found and dealt with out of the crate. I knew as soon as he complained about the weave that the steering head bearings were too tight. The tyre pressures were up sht creek too: that should have been around 22psi in the front. Running 32psi on a small bike like that was another ingredient in the weaving recipe.

I should have been a little clearer in my initial response to include the above comments, rather than just say 'unbelievable'. That word was aimed 70%-ish at the reviewer's poor PDI.

Suzi Q wrote:PS. How long before you realised it didn't have a front brake? I had a BSA Bantam that didn't have a front brake too. Well it did, but it didn't, if you know what I mean  .

Oh, it was obvious as it was a drum brake and the drum was obvious with nothing in it and no brake lever on the handlebar. Issue was that I didn't realize/know that a front brake was more important than the rear. Still rode that machine all over west Tennessee and eastern Arkansas.
Sometimes luck is all you have.

The last few electrical items I've purchased from eBay, etc., which have origins in China, have been supplied without the required resistors. When I've enquired of the supplier they get back to me with something like "The engineer says you should go buy a resistor from a motorcycle shop..." to which I reply, "Please ask why the engineer did not include one in the piece in the first place since all of the vehicles these parts are meant to fit will require one for it to function properly." I usually get no further response. But, hell, I hardly paid anything for it!

I remember we used to make fun of Japanese-built things...I also remember how quickly they came to see they'd better up their game to world standards, which they did, along with supplying spare parts easily. These days one would not hesitate to buy something from them. Or Germany. Perhaps even the US. The Chinese seem to me to have, with some exceptions, the attitude that if it's built and supplied cheaply enough, if it fails in, to what the western world might think is an insufficient amount of time or of use, no worries, just buy another, because it's half the price of the competition anyway. Has anyone tried to source spares for a Chinese-built (name any minimoto or quad) lately? Unavailable. Not listed. Buy another unit.

I reckon their stuff will improve. They are close to owning the EV market, and Tesla pales in comparo to the amount of EVs they will sell this year. We are all going to have to get used to it.

It is no wonder, however, that KTM, BMW, Harley, and others, make sure there are engineers from the home country looking over their shoulders on the outsourced, Chinese factory production line.

I will continue to buy where my dollar goes the furthest, but with an eye on the quality as well. I know what I am getting for my money when I head to the far east.

A friend of mine bought such a chinese cheap shock à feu years ago.
He was happy to show us this purchase at our airhead annual meeting.
Yet, he never showed up.
The shock broke and he fell ,hit badly the head on the ground.
He survived, after some weeks in coma.
But will never ride or speak anymore. He did not even recognise its family.

I'll never use this kind of parts if safety is involved in any way.

Two Wheels Better wrote:TIt is no wonder, however, that KTM, BMW, Harley, and others, make sure there are engineers from the home country looking over their shoulders on the outsourced, Chinese factory production line.

Add dear old Boeing to that list. They inherited a Chinese McDonnell-Douglas factory when they bought out McD-D. Actually, that reminds me... Boeing's QA in the Charlottesville factory was so poor that airlines started refusing to buy any hull that came off that production line. So it ain't just China!